I will be honest with you, 2022 was a mixed bag in terms meeting my New Year's resolutions. I didn't meet fitness goals, didn't focus on music much. However, I did manage to trim distractions. I also did a lot of research, which has positioned me well to achieve my writing objectives in 2o23. In …
On the Queen as an example of duty
We have heard many opinions about Queen Elizabeth II, ranging from fawning admirers to resentful critics. For me, this range of commentary, coming out of ideological commitment is of little interest. Ideological thinking is inherently unreasoned, therefore of little value if we wish to speak of any profound human truth. Ideological thinking is a reductive …
Dr. Paul Bates has died. A life in search of the Good.
We live in a world of clichés and ideologues. In this internet age, we are surrounded by glass-eyed people, robots who chase their ideas and have forgotten their humanity. And yet, in this madness there remain those who are unabashedly committed to putting aside ideological vanity and instead let themselves be guided by the old …
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A visit to De Mazenod Farm – A quiet Christian contribution
Sometimes you visit a place that just feels right. My recent visit to De Mazenod Farm was like that. The Farm is a development of the De Mazenod Door program, which was started by Fathers Tony O'Dell and Jarek Pachoki, both Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. It was named after Saint Eugene de Mazenod, a …
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A deep convo about strategy
This post features a sequence of four videos about strategy, in which I have a conversation with Mark John Stewart, an entrepreneur of note (Wentworth Strategy, FlyPrint), not-for-profit co-founder (Empowerment Squared) and MCM strategy instructor. We really got into it. Enjoy. These videos were recorded to serve the community of learners who are seeking Accreditation …
We never walk alone
This is a quick personal narrative about why I love walking in the forest. Memories, imagination, creativity. I walk for many reasons. Obviously, I need to get from place to place. Sometimes I need a workout, so I walk fast or listen to music that will make me walk even faster. Other times, I walk …
Becoming fit, staying fit, while staying happy
This is a short narrative about my up-and-down fitness journey, how it has affected my happiness, and how I have tried to manage it. I was quite the athlete as a kid and as a young man. I swam a lot, played ice hockey until I was 17 and then fenced sabre competitively into my …
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7 things I do to stay creative and keep writing
This blog post has seven tips for you on how I try to be a productive writer. I hope you find them useful. I am in the midst of writing a book with Martin Waxman on how public relations, marketing and the other strategic creative professions can take charge in the emerging new world of …
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Special moments
I have been reflecting on what it means to live and be alive. I know that sounds a little grand. Bear with me. So often, we will live for the future, for promise. So often we live in the past, for sentiment and nostalgia. We even sometimes -- rarely -- live in the present. What …
Some thoughts on fear vs belonging in digital life
I’ve been thinking of the power of attention to shape our lives. What we attend to sets the public agenda in terms of what we collectively think is important … in politics, society, culture, the market. However, I think the more insidious power of attention is very personal. Indeed, we attend to what is most …
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